Plans to create eco-towns across the UK moved a step closer today as the government recognised the first official zero-carbon home.

The housing minister, Yvette Cooper, awarded a stamp duty exemption certificate to a prototype carbon neutral property - the most environmentally friendly home yet built and the first to meet the highest standards laid out in the government's code for sustainable homes.

The two-bedroom Lighthouse was built by Kingspan Off-Site using energy-efficient construction methods, and makes the most of renewable and sustainable energy technologies.

The fabric of the building is highly insulating and airtight, and is designed to provide generous amounts of daylight to reduce the energy needed to light the property.

Solar panels will heat water for the home's owners, while water efficiency devices reduce waste.

Ms Cooper visited the home at the BRE Offsite 2007 exhibition taking place this week in Watford.

Sustainable performance Properties like the Lighthouse will make up the new eco-towns of 20,000 homes announced last month by Gordon Brown.

The prototype building meets level six of the government code, which looks at water, energy, waste and six other criteria covering a building's overall sustainability performance.

The code was introduced in December as part of the government's plan to make all new homes carbon neutral by 2016, a target which some have described as impossible.

It is currently voluntary, but the government is considering introducing a legal minimum standard for all new builds.

Properties can be awarded a rating from one to six stars, with those receiving the maximum score qualifying for stamp duty exemption for being zero carbon.

The scheme was created to encourage developers to build such properties and buyers to take an interest in them.

With stamp duty charged at 1% on properties costing between £125,000 and £250,000, someone buying a zero-carbon home for £200,000 would save themselves £2,000.

As well as handing over the certificate, Ms Cooper unveiled a logo for zero-carbon homes and launched a research programme into energy-efficient buildings.

"We need a complete revolution in the way we design and build our homes. Many of the technologies exist already, as these new homes show. Now we need more work to test them and deliver economies of scale."